From hence I conclude, That the same sort of Spirit that attended Corasse, has been always a Friend to you, not only of late, in your miraculous Recovery, but has at all Times assisted you in Writing the Names of Strangers, discovering the most secret Intrigues and foretelling future Events, for which you have long been Famous. As a further Proof of the Existence of Spirits and that at some other Times, as well as in your Case, they have prescrib'd Physick to their living Friends, I shall quote an Instance out of Mr. Glanvil's Reports, attested by the late Lord Orrery, the Famous Mr. Greatrix, and many others, living in the Reign of King Charles the Second.
A Gentleman in Ireland, near to the Earl of Orrery's House, sending his Butler one Afternoon to a neighbouring Village to buy Cards, as he pass'd a Field, espy'd a Company in the middle thereof, sitting round a Table, with several Dishes of good Cheer before them, and moving towards 'em, they all arose and Saluted him, desiring him to sit down and take part with them; but one of them whisper'd these Words in his Ear, viz. Do nothing this Company invites you to: Whereupon, he refusing to accept of their Kindness, the Table and all the Dainties it was furnish'd with immediately vanish'd, but the Company fell to Dancing and playing upon divers Musical Instruments, the Butler being a second Time solicited to partake of their Diversions, but would not be prevail'd upon to engage himself with them; upon which, they left off their Merry-making and all fell to Work, still pressing the Butler to make one among 'em, but to no purpose; so that, upon his third refusal, they all vanish'd and left the Butler alone, who in a great Consternation return'd home, without the Cards, fell into a Fit as he enter'd the House, but, soon recovering his Senses, related to his Master all that had pass'd.
The following Night, one of the Ghostly Company came to the Butler's Bed-side and told him, that if he offer'd to stir out the next Day, he would be carry'd away; upon whose Advice, he kept within till towards the Evening, and having then an Occasion to make Water, ventur'd to set one Foot over the Threshold of the Door, in order to ease himself, which he had no sooner done, but a Rope was cast about his Middle, in the Sight of several Standers-by, and the poor Man was hurry'd from the Porch with unaccountable Swiftness, follow'd by many Persons, but they were not nimble enough to overtake him, till a Horseman, well mounted, happening to meet him upon the Road, and seeing many followers in pursuit of a Man hurry'd along in a Rope, without any Body to force him, catch'd hold of the Cord and stop'd him in his Career, but receiv'd, for his Pains, such a strap upon his Back with one End of the Rope, as almost fell'd him from his Horse; however, being a good Christian, he was too strong for the Devil, and recover'd the Butler out of the Spirits Clutches and brought him back to his Friends.
The Lord Orrery, hearing of these strange Passages, for his further Satisfaction in the Truth thereof, sent for the Butler, with leave of his Master, to come and continue some Days and Nights at his House, which, in Obedience to his Lordship, the Servant did accordingly, who after his first Night's Bedding there, reported to the Earl in the Morning, that his Spectre had again been with him, and assur'd him, that on that very Day he should be spirited away, in spight of all the Measures that could possibly be taken to prevent it: Upon which, he was conducted into a large Room, with a considerable Number of holy Persons to defend him from the Assaults of Satan; among whom, was the famous stroker of bewitch'd Persons, Mr. Greatrix, who liv'd in the Neighbourhood, and knew, as may be presum'd, how to deal with the Devil as well as any Body; besides several eminent Quality were present in the House, among the rest, two Bishops, all waiting the wonderful Event of this unaccountable Prodigy.
Till part of the Afternoon was spent, the Time slid away in nothing but Peace and Quietness, but, at length, the enchanted Patient was perceiv'd to rise from the Floor without any visible Assistance, whereupon, Mr. Greatrix and another lusty Man clapt their Arms over his Shoulders, and endeavour'd to weigh him down with their utmost Strength, but to no purpose, for the Devil prov'd too powerful, and after a hard struggle on both sides, made them quit their hold, and snatching the Butler from 'em, carry'd him over their Heads and toss'd him in the Air, to and fro, like a Dog in a Blanket; several of the Company running under the poor Wretch to save him from the Ground, by which means, when the Spirits Frolick was over, they could not find that in all this hurry-scurry, the frighted Butler had receiv'd the least Damage, but was left in Statu quo, upon the same Premises, to prove the Devil a Liar.
The Goblins, for this bout, having given over their Pastime, and left their Maygame to take a little repose, that he might in some Measure be refresh'd against their next Sally, My Lord order'd, the same Night, two of his Servants to lie with him, for fear some Devil or other should come and catch him Napping, notwithstanding which, the Butler told his Lordship the next Morning, that the Spirit had again been with him in the likeness of a Quack Doctor, and in his right Hand a wooden Dish-full of grey Liquor, like a Mess of Porridge, at sight of which, he endeavour'd to awake his Bedfellows, but the Spectre told him his attempts were fruitless, for that his Companions were enchanted into a deep Sleep, advising him not to be frighted, for he came as a Friend, and was the same Spirit that caution'd him in the Field against complying with the Company he there met, when he was going for the Cards; adding, that if he had not refus'd to come into their Measures, he had been for ever miserable; also wonder'd he had escap'd the Day before, because he knew there was so powerful a Combination against him; but assur'd him, that for the future there would be no more attempts of the like Nature; further telling the poor trembling Butler, that he knew he was sadly troubl'd with two sorts of Fits, and, therefore, as a Friend, had brought him a Medicine that would Cure him of both, beseeching him to take it, but the poor Patient, who had been so scurvily us'd by these sort of Doctors, and fearing the Devil might be at the Bottom of the Cup, would not be prevail'd upon to swallow the Dose, which made the Spirit Angry; who told him, however, he had a kindness for him, and that if he would bruise the Roots of Plantane without the Leaves, and drink the the Juice thereof, it should certainly Cure him of one sort of his Fits, but as a Punishment for his Obstinacy in refusing the Liquor, he should carry the other to his Grave, then the spiritual Doctor ask'd his Patient if he knew him; the Butler answer'd, No. I am, says he, the wandring Ghost of your old Acquaintance John Hobby, who has been dead and bury'd these seven Years; and ever since, for the wickedness of my Life, have been lifted into the Company of those Evil-Spirits you beheld in the Fields, am hurry'd up and down in this restless Condition, and doom'd to continue in the same wretched State till the Day of Judgment. Adding, that Had you serv'd your Creator in the days of your Youth, and offer'd up your Prayers that Morning, before you were sent for the Cards, you had not been treated by the Spirits that tormented you, with so much Rigour and Severity.
After the Butler had reported these marvellous Passages to my Lord and his Family, the two Bishops, that were present, among other Quality, were thereupon consulted, whether or no, it was proper for the Butler to follow the Spirit's Advice, in taking Plantane Juice for the Cure of his Fits, and whether he had done well or ill, in refusing the Liquid Dose which the Spectre would have given him; the Question, at first, seem'd to be a kind of moot Point, but, after some struggle in the Debate, their Resolution was, that the Butler had acted, through the whole Affair, like a good Christian, for that it was highly sinful to follow the Devil's Advice in any thing, and that no Man should do Evil that Good might come of it; so that, in short, the poor Butler, after all his Fatigue, had no amends for his trouble, but was deny'd, by the Bishops, the seeming Benefit that the Spirit intended him.
I do not introduce this old surprising Story to amuse you, but to let you know, that it is no new thing for Spectres to turn Doctors to such ailing Persons as they retain a Respect for, and that your Genius was not the first Spirit that ever practis'd Physick; therefore, if this Narrative reported by Glanvil, Beaumont, and others, may obtain Credit, upon the Authorities of my Lord Orrery, Mr. Greatrix, and divers Persons, who were in a great measure Eye-Witnesses of the matter, I see no Reason I have to doubt the Truth of your Letter, since I know your Integrity; besides, it has always been allow'd by such Dæmonologers as have Publish'd their Thoughts upon the visibility of Spirits, that Scotland, is never without such a sort of People as they call Second-sighted, who have not only the Power of discerning Apparitions, but, by their frequent Conversation with Spirits, foretel future Events, to the great Astonishment of all Persons that consult them: That there are such sort of Diviners in the World, especially in Scotland, I am throughly convinc'd; of which Number I take your self to be one, but how to account for your mysterious Performances, I readily confess, I know not, and therefore shall submit that Task to such as are qualify'd with a more subtil Penetration.
I doubt I have tir'd your Patience with too much Prolixity upon familiar Spirits, therefore, to make you amends, I will be but short in my Dissertation upon the Loadstone; which in the first place, is, a very ponderous Fossile, found in different Climates, and seems in its Nature and Qualities to be nearly related to Iron Oar, from whence it is endow'd with a peculiar property of drawing Iron to its self by the Power of Sympathy, or the natural Disposition it has to Embrace that particular Metal. In Ægypt there are large Mines of it, some few Magnets have been found in Æthiopia, which have attracted Iron very forcibly; but two sorts are dug up at the foot of the Sardinian Mountains, of such different Natures, that as one draws Iron, the other will repel it; as you will find it reported by Johannes Jonstonus, in his History of Nature, also by Pliny, in his Second Book, who, for the aforesaid Reason, calls this Stone Theamedes: As to the singular Virtues hitherto discover'd in the common Loadstone, the most admirable of all are the strict Correspondence it maintains with the two Poles, and the wonderful Property it communicates, by a touch, to the Needle, for the Benefit of Mariners. The Power of its Attraction, is thought by some Virtuosos to be owing to a clammy bituminous Substance, by which the Contexture of the more solid Parts are closely semented and confirm'd; to prove this, work a Loadstone in the Fire and it shall cast forth a blewish Flame, like that of lighted Brimstone, and so continue, till it spends its Life and loses the Power of Attraction. There is a great deal of Sulphur in Iron as well as in the Loadstone, which is the principal Cause of their Sympathising with each other, and if you destroy the first in either, the last will fail in course, which is the Reason, why the Loadstone will not attract the Rust of Iron, tho' it will the Filings, because in the former, the bituminous Matter is quite spent and nothing left but a kind of Caput mortuum. The Loadstone hath also two Poles, which answer those in the Heavens, if you touch the Needle with the North Pole of the Stone, it will point to the Artick, if with the South part thereof, as it stood posited in the Mine, it will point to the Antartick, but not with the utmost exactness, except it stands in the Meridian: But to be further satisfy'd in these Mysteries, have recourse to Libavius, Cardanus, Pliny, Bodin, Porta, our own Philosophical Transactions, and such Authors as have treated more largely upon this Subject: for, I suppose, all that you want to know of me is, if ever I have heard from others, or discover'd by my own Experience, any such Physical Virtue in the Loadstone, as may tend to the Cure of any Chronical or other Disease incident to humane Bodies, that may strengthen the Opinion you seem to entertain of it in such Cases, from the Benefit your self has lately receiv'd in so extraordinary a manner.
In answer to this, I confess, I have heard it affirm'd (but not by a Physician) that the Loadstone hath withdrawn the Inflamation and given Ease in the Gout, and by changing the Application of it from one side to the other, has at length chas'd it away, to the perfect recovery of the Patient; but in any other Case, excepting your own, I never heard of a Cure so much as facilitated or attempted to be perform'd thereby; therefore, as the Use of it in any Disease is quite Foreign to the common Practice of Physick, if others, as well as your self, have receiv'd Benefit by this new Discovery, I think not my self oblig'd to account for it, till it becomes practical among my own Fraternity, and then it will be Time enough for any Physician to give his Thoughts thereon; besides, I am a Stranger to the Preparation prescrib'd to you by your Genius, and without the knowledge of that material Secret, it is impossible for any Physician, in your Case, to make a clear Judgment, or to know which of the two your Cure is chiefly owing to, the Powder or the Loadstone; for how far the latter may operate upon a Body prepar'd by Pulvis Martis or other Chalybeates, I shall not pretend to determine, tho', for ought I know, wonderful Cures may be perform'd in that way, but upon what Reason in Nature, such a new System can be founded, seems very remote from my present understanding; but, since you are become sole Master of so wonderful a Secret, my Advice is, that you keep the Recipe to your self, in Obedience to your Genius, and tho' you Assist others, never to do it without Fee or Reward, for all useful Discoveries ought to be render'd Profitable.